The Tale of the Lost Moon Princess
by TheCupIsMightierThanTheSword
Summary: [Post! 700 AU]. Before taking her bite into the Shinju Fruit and changing the fate of the world a young Kaguya's destiny is changed as she is thrown into a new world. With Naruto taking her under her wing and facing discrimination as the Rabbit Goddess, she learns there is a darker truth to her arrival in Konoha and that she may end up having to stop it. [DISCONTINUED]
1. Prologue

**_The Tale of the Lost Moon Princess_**

**A/n:**

Hello, welcome to the first chapter- well prologue, of a request a fellow Author on Ffn asked for to right. I enjoyed making this chapter and I'm looking forward to the future chapters I will be writing to add on to this story. It took a bit of work and a bit of photoshop with the chapter title, but I'm pleased with the final product. I hope the individual who asked for this will enjoy the final product as well. The chapter came out a a bit shorter than I expected, but I still think it got the point across.

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**Prologue**

Homura stared up at the moon blankly.

It was a full moon, looking particularly big and full that cloudless night. He was sitting atop is desk with his feet resting in a chair, sitting across an askew stack of papers and an unraveled scroll pressed against his back side. It was sloppy, Homura admited, but he wasn't one for things being completely orderly. It was an 'organized chaos', as his mother used to say. A small chuckle nearly rumbled out his chest, but he managed to suppress it. He felt warm but that wasalso not a problem. In all honesty, he was too lazy to douse the flames in fireplace and he didn't have the patience to deal with the smoke in the room.

Laziness was a bad habit, but Homura digressed. It was habit he usually kept in control.

Taking his eyes off the moon, his eyes looked down into his lap and stared at the lotus-fruit in his lap. This time, he couldn't prevent his lips upturning slightly as he lifted it up. It's glistened admiringly in the moonlight.

"_Coolness of the melons_  
_flecked with mud_  
_in the morning dew._" Homura said, his voice quiet as his hand caressed the fruit lovingly.

"Matsuo Basho, milord?"

Homura looked over to his side, not at all surprised when he saw who was standing in the doorway. "You've read his works, Sayuri?" His lips were curved into a smirk.

Sayuri had an unimpressed look about her. She had the look of someone who had dealt with the ego and attitude of many, her grey eyes worn. It made her look older than she probably was. Homura never bothered to ask her. "I've read a few." She took a small step to fully enter Homura's domain, as he called it. He was very meticulous when it came to his privacy. "He was gifted. I have a particular fondness for Autumn Moonlight."

"_Autumn moonlight-_  
_a worm digs silently_  
_into the chestnut._" Homura looked back at the fruit in his hand once more. "Quite befitting of this moment in particular, wouldn't you say?"

Sayuri's eyes narrowed, her eyes getting sharp-look to them. "Would you be the worm, milord?" She questioned wryly.

Homura released a snort. "Perhaps." He sounded more amused than insulted. "But doesn't this blossom just look beautiful in the moonlight? So ripe and ready. It makes me excited that soon this plan will be coming to fruition."

"That's actually what I came in here for." Sayuri averted her gaze else where. "Wouldn't it be better to take a small break due to the closeness of this plan? It would be better to take one to avoid taxing the machine as well as your well-"

Homura cut Sayuri off without hesitation. "My well-being is a small price to pay." Sayuri realized that that was her answer. "Leave me. I want to enjoy the calm before the storm."

Sayuri released a brief sigh and was already on her way to heading her way out, "As you wish." She murmured. _That man is filth. _

"I am the worm aren't I?" His thumb swept over the fruit's slightly rough exterior one last time. "And this is my chestnut; one of many." He reached for the scroll behind his back with his free hand. _Farewell for now my sweet._ Homura licked his lips. With a tiger-ox-horse transition the fruit disappeared with a poof. He rolled his scroll fully this time, placing it securely beside him once more. His azure eyes looked back up at the moon once more, a look of sanctification upon his face.

Now where should I strike next?

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**A/n:** And that's it! Once again, I hoped you enjoyed this prologue and that it met your expectations!

Let me all know what you think. Read and Review, and Spread the word too!  
-The Mighty Cup


	2. Chapter 1

**_The Tale of the Lost Moon Princess_**

**A/n:**

Sorry that the finished product took so long. I've been pretty busy with exams, babysitting, and what not. But in the end, I got the chapter finished. This is still un-beta-ed, so you'll probably find some errors within the text. If you do... I'm sorry. Also, sorry that the prologue was pretty short, I was trying to go for vague, and in the end it came out short. It happens though right? Amiritie ladies?

And to avoid some possible confusion, there will be spoilers for those who haven't read Naruto Gaiden and for those who haven't watch The Last yet. Just thought I give the heads up now to avoid any arguments about me not mentioning them! So if you mind getting things spoiled for you, I suggest not reading this chapter. If you don't care though, go ahead and read to your hearts content.

Enjoy the read!

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**Chapter One**

Kaguya felt sick.

Her stomach churned like boat turning endlessly during a sea storm and her limbs felt heavy. Her head pounded like a firm drum beat and she felt as if she would throw up if she moved. Kaguya swallowed heavily, her throat dry before opening up her eyes. The room she was in was white and brightly lit, and only served to make her head hurt even more. The room also had a sharp smell to it, the sterile smell causing her nostrils to sting with each breath she took.

_Why am..._ Kaguya turned her head slightly to get a better look of her surroundings._ I here...?_

Or rather, where on earth was she?

A blanket of anxiety covered her heart, but the young girl couldn't find the strength to move.

Was she going to die here?

Kaguya's lilac eyes darted from wall to wall. There was nothing but white in here and it disturbed her greatly. There was no vibrant colours in the room, only an occasional pale yellow colour on one wall she could see from her peripheral vision. She struggled to swallow down any saliva she could. "..." _Water._ Kaguya coughed harshly.

She needed a drink. And badly.

[;';]

"Naruto what were you thinking?!" Tenten exclaimed at the current Hokage. "This is crazy! You know who she is!"

Naruto grimaced. "She's just a kid," he said. "I couldn't just leave her in the forest." The Konoha 11 had gathered for a meeting and it was a meeting about the girl.

Shikamaru shot Naruto a sharp glance, "Udon, brought her to the clinic unknowingly without any knowledge of her physical descriptions. But we know, you know, and you still kept her alive. I'd almost agree with your keeping her alive if I truly believed you kept her simply for things such as, interrogation. But I'm not stupid- you're keeping her alive because you feel sorry for her and after all she put us through."

"Shikamaru's right, Naruto." Sakura said, her eyes full of concern for her teammate. "Keeping her will only further will only increase the danger, even more so than how risky it was before we knew of her whereabouts."

Ino nodded, "And there's the fact we'll have to tell the council about this if someone hasn't already."

The blonde Hokage's lips turned down even more if possible. The council was one of the many things he disliked dealing with after he became the Seventh Hokage to rule over Konoha. It may have improved in terms of people from when Tsunade was on the job, but this time... It was Tsunade who was on the job and Naruto knew that this would cause and extreme outrage. "I know," he grumbled. "I know we'll have to tell the council if we keep her."

"Will they want to keep her as prisoner?" Shino asked, brown eyes gleaming from under his visor. "Use the Torture &amp; Interrogation unit?"

Hinata's eyes filled with worry, "On someone so young?"

Kiba scoffed, "She ain't a kid." He sniffed, irritated. "She just looks like one. It's probably some sort of aging or appearance altering jutsu to make us feel sorry for her. If that was what Kaguya was aiming for, she shoulda went all out."

"And if anything she shouldn't have came into a village full of shinobi." Tenten crossed her arms. "That was a very dumb move on her part."

Naruto raised up his hands, "Guys, maybe we're overthinking this."

"This is Kaguya, Naruto!" Shikamaru exclaimed, voice raised uncharacteristically. "We aren't overthinking anything."

Deep down, Naruto had to agree with his advisor.

This _was_ Kaguya they were talking about. A goddess with considerable strength, he knew for a fact. He had fought her back in the war. She was one of the toughest opponents he had ever fought, and his right arm was physical evidence to attest to that. It was either overthink or possibly die from whatever this encounter with the Rabbit Goddess meant. Would she end up being taken by T&amp;I and would that even be worth doing considering her strength? There was also the fact they could try sealing her chakra, but would that ever be able to work since she was a _goddess_?

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in frustration. What was he going to do? He jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see a pair of worried opals looking in his swormy blue.

"Naruto-kun?"

The blonde male smiled a little, "I'm alright. Thank you, Hinata."

His blue-haired wife offered a small smile of her own.

"I hate to break up your moment," came Shikamaru's voice. "But we still need to figure out what to do here."

Naruto sighed, "Yes, I know." He took a deep breath. "For one thing, we'll need to tell Sasuke."

Sakura perked at the sound of her husband's name and she and Naruto shared a knowing glance. It was a secret to the others outside of the of the Five Kage Summit and Shikamaru, but Sasuke was on a mission for a look out on the White Zetsu Army and Kaguya's whereabouts. With this occurrence, however, the Seventh was rather sure that this was going to be a temporary cut-off on the mission Sasuke volunteered to go on. "Yes, Sasuke-kun will probably want to know about this."

"But does Sasuke even have a phone?" Chouji asked with a raised eyebrow. "The guy doesn't seem like he's caught up on the times at all."

"Yeah, Sasuke still relies on messenger hawks to get the job done." Naruto and Sakura sweatdropped. Maybe one of them should invest in buying him one the next opportunity they got. "But since he's moving around a lot," Naruto felt frustration flow through his blood once more. "I'm pretty sure it'll be impossible to send him a message about this via hawk. That's it, I'm buying him a phone!"

Hinata looked amused at her husband's antics, "Then should we send a few jonin to find him?"

Shikamaru nodded, "Seems like our best shot."

Sai spoke up for the first time, "If we're trying to get him here relatively quickly, it would be best to send those with high agility don't you think, Dickless?"

_I'm going to ignore that._ It didn't seem to matter what Naruto's status was or how old they got, Sai would forever call Naruto that infuriating nickname. _One of these days, I'm coming up with an even better counter nickname. Suck on that ink, Sai!_ "Lee?"

The bowl-haired shinobi perked up, "I would be honoured to go on this mission, Naruto-kun." He grinned, teeth twinkling and Tenten sighed. It looked as if she would be one 'springtime of youth' spandex wearing male for a few weeks considering how long this would take. "And do not worry, my honourable wife! I shall return swiftly!"

"I'm sure you will, Lee." Tenten replied, a rest-assured smile on her face.

"And Kiba," the Inuzuka male perked up at the sound of his name. "I know the job will get done quick if your nose is on the job."

Kiba lips spread into a cocky smile, his eyes shining with a certain nostalgia to them. "Looks like I have a big penchant for missions that involve tracking Sasuke. Except this time it looks like I'll be doing it without Akamaru." The ninja hound had aged considerably over time and didn't move much unless it was for things like eating, drinking, and using the bathroom. It hurt Kiba to do this, but he'd rather Akamaru stay at home taken care of by Tamaki and Hana than risk breaking one of his constantly creaking bones.

Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Lee looked at one another as they remembered their first attempt to bring Sasuke back to Konoha.

A lot had changed since then.

Neji was on that mission too, and he was dead now.

Naruto lifted a hand to squeeze Hinata's. "Yeah," the blonde said softly. "It'll be a lot different from then won't it. Almost makes me wanna reform the Sasuke Retrieval Squad again." He forced a smile on his face. "'Cept this time will be easier since we'll have no Oto-nin to fight off." Then he sighed. "But Lee, Kiba, and maybe two other people."

Sai blinked, "I could be able to go and provide use with my ink hawks."

That would make a lot of sense. With Sai on the team, they would be able to get an aerial sight and probably be able to spot Sasuke better. "Okay." Then a name popped up in his head. "Konohamaru maybe?"

Shikamaru placed a hand on his chin, "Mirai might make the better choice on that one." He muttered. "She inherited both Asuma-sensei's chakra nature and speed so she wouldn't be a hindrance even if she is a chunin."

"Mirai-chan?" Ino looked apprehensive, blue eyes full of surprise.

Chouji looked displeased as well, "Well she is quite experienced with his kunai as well." He couldn't help but agree. Mirai was a quick and eager learner, especially when it came to the techniques she had heard stories of Asuma perfecting and the young kunoichi made it her own personal mission to master all of them. It was admirable from both their perspectives as those who know Asuma and their children's generation who looked up to Mirai as if she were an older sister. "Maybe it would be good for her to join the team, Ino."

Ino put her hands on her hips, "Konohamaru is a skilled jonin." The blonde woman snapped and Sai tried to settle the flames of her spiking temper that was quickly rising.

"Ino," Sai said in a cooing voice. "We know he is, but so is Mirai-san."

Ino slapped his hand away, not wanting to be calmed. "At the very least give her other missions with minor tracking before sending her on one that is really major! Like a D or C rank. With how big this one is what with Kaguya being here now, that makes this an-"

"This is at the very least an A, Ino we know." Shikamaru snapped. "But Mirai has been on A rank missions before and she will be fine is she is chosen. This isn't that dangerous a mission so you're fretting over nothing."

The Ino and Shika of their generations InoShikaChou formation fell silent as brown and blue met each other head on without any sign of breaking.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Sakura beat him to the punch. "Ino," she began softly like Sai did before. "We aren't trying to put Mirai in a dangerous situation and we know how you feel about her going on this mission. But we need you to put your faith in whatever decision Naruto makes and if Mirai is chosen, you'll have to put your faith in her too." The pinkette offered a serene smile.

Ino looked at her best friend with a mixed look then shot Shikamaru a brief glare, "Fine," she said at last. "I'll leave it up to you Naruto. I'm going back to the clinic to see if _she's_ awake." Then with her ponytail dancing side to side, Ino stomped out of the meeting place that the Konoha 11 made all those years ago when they were teenagers.

Sakura sighed and looked at Sai with a small smile of comfort, "Don't worry, she'll cool down eventually." Her green eyes darted to Naruto. "I'll be going with her as well. Kami knows she probably won't be the best person to check on Kaguya without wrecking some kind of havoc. She might snap at some of the other nurses too."

The jinchuuriki nodded, "Alright." He replied wryly. "Let Ino know, I'll have made a decision by tomorrow." His pink-haired teammate left with a nod and now the Konoha 11 was down two members. "Shikamaru, I'll keep in mind everything you said for now. We'll discuss it further tomorrow."

Shikamaru gave a nod of his own, "Right." His brown gaze swept over the rest of their friends. "So for now, those who have officially been chosen for this mission should start preparing to head out soon. And while I probably don't even have to say it, remember not to tell anyone the truth behind why you're going on this mission."

Kiba let out a snort, "'Course not, ole buddy. We aren't genin or anything like that."

Shikamaru looked like he was thinking something snarky but decided against saying it, "Well?" He prompted Naruto.

"Well it looks like the meeting's adjourned." Naruto answered with a sigh. That meeting had gone south. "Like Shikmaru said, Kiba, Lee, Sai, start getting ready to take off soon and don't tell anyone about this. I'll be contacting the council tomorrow morning and then I'll make contact with Kaguya myself and see what's going on here. And it's late so, rest up."

Then with a simultaneous sound of agreement from them all, everyone began making their way to the exit. "Another part I hate about being Hokage sometimes." Naruto grumbled, low enough for only Hinata to hear him. "Having to make decisions that'll more than likely piss off a person." He held onto the blunette's hand tightly.

Hinata squeezed back just as tightly and offered her best comforting smile, "I'm sure you'll make a good decision, Naruto-kun, you just need to believe in yourself."

"Thanks, Hinata." Naruto smiled back, heart lightening up a tad. "Just when it seems like things are really starting to calm down is when the bowl of ramen decides to fall over. But at least I have you."

The Uzumaki matriach giggled, "Don't be silly."

"I'm not!"

The two of them made their way down a busy street. "You think Boruto and Himawari are asleep now?" With the rushed meeting that the Konoha 11 had, Hinata had dropped the two children off at the Hyuga Compound to be looked after under Hiashi and Hanabi's supervision. "I doubt Boruto is, to be honest. Or he's on his way." Boruto was much more rambunctious than his younger sister and he was often getting into some kind of trouble or another, like his father. The only difference on that whole thing was that Boruto was a prodigy, unlike Naruto or Hinata.

"I'm sure they're fine and well-rested." Hinata uttered. "They'll be excited to see you."

"Well, Himawari will." Naruto rebutted. "It seems like Boruto is just getting angrier and angrier at me since I'm busy all the time."

Hinata's eyes looked solemn, "He'll come to understand one day." Out of the two of them, Boruto had taken Naruto's new -in perspective since when Boruto was a toddler Naruto wasn't- position as Hokage the hardest and he took any opportunity to catch Naruto's attention. And that often involved pranks of some sort, like painting the Hokage monument. "Boruto is just a little protective."

Naruto shot his wife a look of disbelief and Hinata released another giggle, "Boruto just doesn't want to share you is all. You'll come to see that too."

That felt a little bit like a riddle, but Naruto couldn't hold back the smile his lips were trying to form. "Just when I think I fully understand you," he began. "You say something like that and rush way ahead of where I was just reaching."

"Women aren't that mysterious, Naruto-kun."

"Yes they are."

The two of them often had playful banters like this after they began seeing one another, well it happened during their mission to rescue Hanabi, but... Naruto digressed. The things they 'argued' about varied from moment to moment. Whether or not the cinnamon roll Hinata had was bigger than his to who had who had cheated during a game of Monopoly. Those were funny, light moments and it made Naruto feel younger again as he thought of all the moments that could have happened if he were more on track as a kid.

Naruto looked up at the moon with mixed feelings.

After the incident with Toneri he had considered the moon to be a special constant reminder of his and Hinata's love for one another, now it was beginning to remind him of the fact that Kaguya had returned and that this was only the calm before the ever-raging storm.

* * *

"Don't worry." Kaguya winced at the voice. "You're probably thirsty. I'm just going to tilt you up a bit so you can drink this." That calmed the young girl's nerves slightly. The voice had such a soothing tone to it, a motherly tone. "Ino, I'm going to tilt her up right now, you get some water."

_Ino?_

Kaguya's eyes looked around for whoever that Ino could be, but all she could see was a blurb of pink. She was still disoriented. "gu...ah-" All that came out of her throat was a scratchy rasp.

"You shouldn't talk yet." Came another voice from the pink blurb above her. "You're pretty dehydrated. It'll probably take some hours before you can talk properly, so we'll just have to give you plenty of fluids. Ah, Ino, thanks. Open your mouth, Kaguya."

_Kaguya? How do they know my name?_ Was this a couple of the gods taking mercy on her because of how much she yearned for peace? For the sacrifices she was willing to make to obtain that peace? Kaguya opened her mouth without a second thought and welcomed the icy liquid running down her esophagus and into her belly. Her throat burned from the cold, but she didn't care. _Thank you! Thank you!_ She hoped that somehow they could hear her gratitude. This water tasted delicious.

"Slow down there." Came a different voice, it sounded slightly agitated and it came from a blurb that was yellow this time. "You'll choke." She took the holder of water away from Kaguya's lips. "And some of it is dribbling down your chin." Her hand, warm but callused wiped away at the dribble Kaguya could barely feel.

"Th-aw..." Kaguya rasped again, trying to convey her thanks.

The pink blurb didn't let her finish with a reprimanding tone, "Just rest for now. Just rest. Everything will be back to normal tomorrow."

_Tomorrow?_ Kaguya felt the icy cool in her stomach like soothing fire. _I can't wait for it to be tomorrow. Then I shall be able to talk to the gods!_

They had recognized her efforts and they were going to bless her for it.

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**A/n:** And the chapter has been finished! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I had fun with this because while originally I planned to do something completely different with the part involving the Kono11, I had actually started rewatching the Sasuke Retrieval Arc and decided to make use of bringing up some old memories and allowing our now grown up babies a chance to reflect on themselves. Like with Ino as you can see, after what happened with Asuma, she's quite protective of Mirai and doesn't enjoy the thought of her taking this mission. Hopefully, it didn't seem to forced and hopefully it flowed with the story. I had a bit of a hard time deciding where to cut this off though. I thought about continuing on to when Naruto began talking to the council, but I wasn't exactly sure about what to put for dialouge and what not so I pushed it back.

Hopefully, this was able to satisfy the complaints the reviewers had about the prologue and this chapter was an improvement. So, let me know down in the reviews what you all thought about this chapter and your thoughts on what could be improved or added.

_Read and Review, and Spread the word too!_  
**-The Mighty Cup**


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